Keeping Children Learning In and Out of School
For South Africa’s estimated 13 million school children, the pandemic resulted in the total closure of schools for cumulative 3-and-a-half months with periods of gradual and staggered reopening.
This not only disrupted learning but meant that 9.1 million children
who received school meals suddenly missed out. Children also lost
the safe and protective environment that schools provide and for
some children getting back into class will be an ongoing challenge.
Responding to the available evidence, the South African government has been recognised globally for leading a proactive response in getting children back to school safely.
UNICEF played a lead role in supporting the safe back-to-school initiative. Through child friendly standard operating procedures developed with partners such as WHO and the Red Cross, children, teachers, caregivers and communities were provided with clear guidance on how to stay as safe as possible.
This is in addition to videos and mass media work on staying safe at school that has reached 21 million people, through public service broadcast announcements and via the Children’s Radio Foundation. In keeping children safe, it has been as important to keep children learning during the lockdown and school re-opening process.
Improvised, innovative and often creative remote learning has helped fill the gap left by the school closures. Lessons have been delivered on television, online, through social media, over the radio or mobile phone, or via printed home learning packages with at least 6,8 million children receiving learning resources through these different mediums. UNICEF South Africa is also supporting the WOZA Matrics 2020 catch up broadcast learning programme that provides final year learners with materials and psychosocial support as they prepare for their final school exams.
Efforts to expand digital learning have been pivotal not only to South Africa’s COVID-19 response, but also well beyond it. UNICEF is supporting the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to scale up mass e-learning, online and app-based access with private sector input, including partnering with 2Enable to develop digital learning content for preschool and primary students.
Remote learning has also exposed the digital divide that reflects broader societal inequality. Many households — especially in rural areas — have no electricity, let alone internet access. According to the recent national survey conducted through UNICEF’s U-Report SMS platform, only 11% of young people reported access to a laptop and internet, and 41% highlighted the need for information on skills and training opportunities.
As South Africa and countries around the world look to reimagine education in the wake of the pandemic, bridging the digital divide and prioritising online connectivity is imperative. More than this — with 8 out of 10 grade four students in South Africa unable to read for meaning, even before the arrival of COVID-1928 — it is crucial that our build-back-better response transforms the way children learn and how they are being taught to ensure a quality and inclusive education system for all. This effort will require the collective engagement of the private sector and all partners to support the Government’s ongoing work to provide every child with the same chance.
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